Hadestown Celebrates Its Broadway Opening Night

Anaïs Mitchell's Hadestown opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on April 17. Rachel Chavkin directs the production.

The principal company is led by Reeve Carney, André De Shields, Amber Gray, Eva Noblezada, and Patrick Page, with a cast that includes Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Kay Trinidad, Afra Hines, Timothy Hughes, John Krause, Kimberly Marable, Ahmad Simmons, Malcolm Armwood, T. Oliver Reid, Jessie Shelton, and Khaila Wilcoxon.

The musical is described as follows: "Following two intertwining love stories — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — Hadestown invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Mitchell's beguiling melodies and Chavkin's poetic imagination pit nature against industry, faith against doubt, and love against fear. Performed by a vibrant ensemble of actors, dancers, and singers, Hadestown delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience."

Hadestown originated as Mitchell's indie theater project that toured Vermont, which she then turned into an acclaimed album. With Chavkin, her artistic collaborator, Hadestown has been transformed into a genre-defying new musical that blends modern American folk music with New Orleans-inspired jazz to reimagine a sweeping ancient tale. The show had its world premiere in 2016 at New York Theatre Workshop.

The Broadway creative team includes Rachel Hauck (set design), Michael Krass (costume design), Bradley King (lighting design), Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz (sound design), David Neumann (choreography), Liam Robinson (music direction and vocal arrangements), Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose (arrangements and orchestrations), and Ken Cerniglia (dramaturgy).